Having never heard of Audio Analogue until I bought a lightly used Fortissimo a year ago, I would add one of their amps to the list. If mine is anything to go by they are rather good and should come in at well under £1000.Ion obelisk, audio analogue Puccini and Marantz pm4. All worthy entries ime
Also some 90's-00's era Sony ES amps have solid reputations but many aren't especially rare which likely helps keep the used prices down.
A caveat is a tendency for their original electrolytic caps to go off over time. Sure enough you can buy one cheaply, but unless it's been serviced it's wise to factor in the cost of same. However, once done it's a fabulous amplifier.I would add an A&R A60 to that list.
Haha. Can’t fault you. Would love another pair. One of the many great speakers that have come and gone.I like them so much I have two pairs. One in use in 2nd system the other in the attic for when/if any of my kids ever move out.
Sub £200 is cheap. Subject to age and condition of course. £350 for a 20 year old amp that was only twice that brand new and may need a service is hardly cheap.
A mate at University had one in about 1986. Really nice, but overall build quality was a bit shonky IIRC. I doubt they last as well as some of the less plasticy alternatives of the time. Quad 303, 405, and (yes even) Naim has its faults but they are wel assembled and last well after 30-40 years.Musical Fidelity P140/150.
I think they were adopting the all singing and dancing transistor technology and hey everybody it's great, come and buy the new stuff! However like you I find early tranny amps a bit questionable compared to well engineered valve stuff of the time. Does a Quad 303 better a Quad 2? I doubt it.The Leak Stereo 30 my dad had was truly awful - made me realise that amplifiers didn't all sound the same, I picked up a Leak Stereo 20 for £30 including power amp when I was at Uni in 1980 - we did the comparison - what on earth were Leak on at that time?
In which case I'd say they weren't a "really fabulous really cheap" amp such as the OP is asking about.Yeah but, Steve, I’m discovering with Philips swing arms of old that they cost now what they did then, or more. And there’s more to go wrong.
The Rotel 820 is nice too, I too prefer that to the NAD that we all had in the day because the magazines said it was better. A mate got one of those mail order packages with a CDP, a Rotel 820 and some bookshelf speakers, it was very good.Of the NADs the 3150 was the star, massively better than its down-engineered 3020 brother.
The Rotel 850 is better than the NAD3020, looks nicer too.
It's tough to define cheap these days when there are some total game changers out there. The various chipamps for pennies are just great. I recently got one, no case, no PSU, £4 delivered, new. It's up there with a cheap integrated of the 80s. You can get a similar thing in a case for £20, plug and play.Steve - in that context i.e. the age etc. I agree with you it is overpriced. I was more focused on how we were defining cheap, that is a relative term I guess.
Very good suggestion, a friend has a few of these and they are rather good. You don't need 5 channels but they sound great on 2.As a left-field suggestion, what about an old, high-end AV receiver? I use a Denon AVR1905 as a stereo amplifier in my workshop system where it replaced a Creek CAS4040 and it definitely sounds better. The older models, that don't support HDMI switching, are worth next to nothing now - you can see high-end models for £50. Most of them even have phono stages and an FM tuner, too.
I had a AVI 2000 series power amp, it was great. I still have an AVI MC2000 CDP that is the best CD player I've heard on my system. It's seen off a number of "better" ones.A really competent and unflappable integrated for sensible-shoes money? Mustn’t overlook the AVI Lab Series integrated. A really fine amp that will drive pretty much anything...
A mate at University had one in about 1986. Really nice, but overall build quality was a bit shonky IIRC. I doubt they last as well as some of the less plasticy alternatives of the time. Quad 303, 405, and (yes even) Naim has its faults but they are wel assembled and last well after 30-40 years.
I think they were adopting the all singing and dancing transistor technology and hey everybody it's great, come and buy the new stuff! However like you I find early tranny amps a bit questionable compared to well engineered valve stuff of the time. Does a Quad 303 better a Quad 2? I doubt it.
In which case I'd say they weren't a "really fabulous really cheap" amp such as the OP is asking about.
The Rotel 820 is nice too, I too prefer that to the NAD that we all had in the day because the magazines said it was better. A mate got one of those mail order packages with a CDP, a Rotel 820 and some bookshelf speakers, it was very good.
It's tough to define cheap these days when there are some total game changers out there. The various chipamps for pennies are just great. I recently got one, no case, no PSU, £4 delivered, new. It's up there with a cheap integrated of the 80s. You can get a similar thing in a case for £20, plug and play.
At the same time there are unsung heroes that were unloved in the day or now. Things like the Nytech, which when it works sounds stunning. When it works. You can get them for £50. There are loads like this, the amplifier equivalent of the Rotel 965 CDP, reasonably priced in the day and now available for loose change. I have a 965 in a second system, it was £30. Seriously, for that nothing comes close. Get a MArantz PM44 for similar money, speakers of your choice, and you can rock up to Scalford with it and better systems at serious money.
I can't go along with Jez's MF monsters in this context, I'm sure they are very good, but they don't sell cheap and if you then need to put in hundreds of pounds worth of capacitors then you are most of the way to a Krell anyway, so it should be as good as. A pal had a KSA 100, recently serviced, that he was trying to sell, I advertised it here for him. Everyone said it was a bargain at about £1000, but no bugger bought it. Yet people queue up to buy a Nait 2 for £600.